Captain Beefheart: The Biography

Rating:
Summary: "The Love of having THE GOOD for Oneself always."
Review: ... Plato writes that Socrates had a great teacher: the priestess, Diotima. Diotima taught Socrates that the answer to the meaning of life was simply this: "It is the love of having THE GOOD for oneself always!" ... Now, the question is: What does one mean by "THE GOOD?" ...

... Plato had put a lot of emphasis on the value of MUSIC in his writings; how training in MUSIC was good for one's soul. Indeed, even the BIBLE says that it is good to "make a JOYOUS sound unto the Lord!" ... Right? ... RIGHT! ...

... Okay - so if you can catch my drift - where this is all heading is probably that WHATEVER the GOOD life is, it most likely will involve the creation and / or enjoyment of the simulaneously entertaining and enlightening powers of music - especially JOYFUL music! ... And I can think of no other music that has been popular to at least some degree in the span of the history of RECORDED music on this planet than the TRULY unique, original, and absolutely JOYOUS music of Don Van Vliet, AKA Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band. This music EXUDES pure, unadulerated JOY. It is also both very ENLIGHTENING as well as very ENTERTAINING. ... It is ENLIGHTENING because - as Gurdjieff claimed that ALL true art must do - it challenges the conventional listening mindset of the listener, waking people up out of their "catatonic" state, as Van Vliet used to constantly say and strive to achieve with his music. In this sense, like the doses of LSD that he and his cohorts used to partake of, his music is very liberating from the chains that bind most musicians and humans in general. Van Vliet is like a demiurge, avatar, or 'fallen' angel sent from God to inspire mankind to get back on track to the "true religion" that respects ALL of Nature and redeems all of The Creator's beings back into a JOYOUS state of childlike grace - as it was before man fell asleep into the catatonic state which accompanied the fall from grace. ... This music is freeing! It is music fit for Plato's cave; fit for the Eleusinian Mystery Rights; fit for any Acid Test put on by Ken Kesey & The Merry Pranksters, or The Grateful Dead, or any of the more recent revelers of the ancient mystery rights of old. ...

... Reading this GREAT book by Mike Barnes brings this ALL into perspective. It is a VERY respectful piece of work, doing a GREAT service to both the man and his music - as well as to the numerous talened musicians who sacrificed EVERYTHING over years and years in order to help birth this music into being. Our gratitude goes out to every one of them. They were not called the MAGIC BAND for nothing! ...

... I only found what I believe to be one FACTUAL error in this book ( though there exist over a dozen typographical errors ), and that is not by the author, but by one of the latter members of the Magic Band as mentioned in a story he told to the author that appears on page 246. I may be wrong, but I believe that it was Mississippi Fred McDowell ( NOT Mississippi John Hurt, as stated ) who wrote the blues song called "Red Cross Store" that Beefheart played over and over for the Magic Band member while he sat in the closet for hours! Indeed, there is NOTHING as hautning on this earth as the sound of a bluesy Slide Guitar - other than possibly the sound of steel Railroad Car wheels on cold, steel Railroad Tracks first thing in the chilly winter morning as the train slowly edges its way from a complete standstill to a rolling slide down the tracks. ...

... Let's leave the final word to Don Van Vliet: "Fulfilling the absence of space between the opposite meanings. I think that's essentially what I think. That came the other night. It came blasting into my head. I quickly wrote it down. Yes, that's what painting is." - Don Van Vliet to John You ...

... YOWZA! - The Aeolian Kid

Rating:
Summary: Still mighty dern good.
Review: After reading some of the reviews on 'Captain Beefheart' by both critics and fans, I have come to the conclusion that possibly no one will ever satisfy the public's desire to trivialize the efforts made to capture Van Vliet's complex and compartimental life. For instance, the criticizm that Don's wife and mother are not addressed in depth. Try researching those subjects. You'll know less when you're finished than when you started out!
There are a few of us who know more than we're saying about Don's pre-TMR years and most personal relationships throughout his life. Will the whole truth ever be known? Unlikely while he's alive. Still, Barnes book is WAY worth reading. That is, if you can find your way to a place somewhere between demonizing and deifying Don.

Rating:
Summary: The Captain's Log
Review: An amazing book. Beefheart comes across as tempremental, devious, perhaps even mad. The architypal 'Difficult Genius', in fact. The book contains very detailed descriptions of all the songs, most of which I was unfamiliar with, but that I now want to check out.
The real heroes of the book are the many seemingly faceless musicians who were in the various line-ups of the Magic Band and who actually played his material. These dedicated men (and a couple of women) put up with the Captain's bizarre and gruelling recording methods in order to replicate the magic in his head onto record. That they mostly have only good things to day about him today is a testament to the high esteem in which they hold his art. And the author did a fine job in interviewing them and getting the most out of them story-wise. All in all, a very fine read.

Rating:
Summary: Tells a story, but Van Vliet remains obscure...
Review: Don Van Vliet (alias "Captain Beefheart") has become one of the most elusive and enigmatic figures in rock history. Strangely, a veritable paucity of information exists on his life and work. Internet webpages and blurbs in CD booklets provide one of the largest current trove of insights. This leaves a large knowledge gap for the curious, and there's plenty to be curious about. His self-abdication as the king of avant-garde rock (or so subsumed by many) to the painterly recluse represents a massive - and intriguing - change for an artist to undertake. Also, he's disappeared. Sightings of and interviews with Van Vliet have gone the way of the dodo bird. Add to that rumors of failing health, and the gossip fountains spurt prodigiously.
Given such a situation, those interested in the life of Van Vliet must embrace the appearance of a new biography (or at least a reissue; this book was originally published in 2000, and, according to the title page, was republished in 2002 with "textual emendations"). Surprisingly, not many biographies of "Captain Beefheart" have made their way into print. Or maybe this shouldn't surprise fans. The lack of material, especially valuable primary source material (in the form of interviews with Van Vliet himself) would daunt the most driven biographer wannabe.
In light of the startling limitations, one has to give Mike Barnes some credit for this undertaking. Unfortunately, the lack of really juicy material shows in this 365 page linear telling of Van Vliet's life. Plenty of dates and amusing and insightful anecdotes appear. And if one wants to know just the basic story behind Captain Beefheart and His/The Magic Band and his subsequent (or continuous) morphing into Don Van Vliet the painter, then dig in. Unfortunately, what one won't find is depth. Don Van Vliet the man and his methodologies remain in relative obscurity by the book's end. True, what happened to him gets a fair outline, but not much else. The book generally feels like a compilation of magazine, audio, and television interviews with sequeways filled in by the author. Consequently, anyone who has undertaken a study of Van Vliet will find much of the material familiar. Don't expect any earth shattering surprises.
Other flaws not related directly to lack of information also exist. The author's abrupt transitions to the first person are jarring. This happens only a few times, but when it does, the flow suffers. Placing these personal reflections into footnotes or endnotes would preserve the narrative flow (particularily the author's recollections of trying to get an interview with Van Vliet; they're very interesting but would have fit better in an epilogue or an appendix; they also come off like an apology for the lack of material). In addition, typos dot the text frequently enough to further strain the flow.
The photograph section presents another puzzle. The book covers all of Van Vliet's life (up to around 2001), but the photos only cover the years 1980 - 1982. Maybe permissions for photos were difficult to obtain? The included photos are great, but they beg the question as to why only an extremely small part of Van Vliet's life made it into this section.
Not only that, the book does not include an index, so returning to specific passages becomes tedious. Of course indexers cost money, so dropping the index probably helped the book get into print. Still, it makes the book less useful as a reference.
On a lighter note, one of the most amusing anecdotes related by Barnes is Van Vliet's run-in with Bono of U2. Following an offer made by Bono to tour with U2 and collaborate, Van Vliet supposedly kept asking his friends "Who's this Bongo?"
Lastly, the multifarious members of various Magic Bands get airtime here. Some of them feel cheated. Others feel fortunate. Some even feel cheated and fortunate. Many of their stories clash with Van Vliet's own version. In the end, what exactly happened is difficult to reconstruct.
Overall the book reads quickly and tells the story of Van Vliet. Those who have no prior knowledge of Captain Beefheart apart from the music will learn a great deal. Longtime fans will probably not learn too much. Barnes is obviously a big fan, and his enthusiasm shows. Nonetheless, the book contains flaws, but not insurmountable ones. Perhaps this book will lay the groundwork for a more detailed study in the future. Or at the very least get Van Vliet's music some more well-deserved press.

Rating:
Summary: Warms The Cockles Of My (Beef)Heart
Review: Having discovered Captain Don a couple of years ago, Beefheart has risen from curio to obsession in my humble little universe. Quite eager to indulge that obsession, I read this bio in one sitting and I have found it to be most satisfying. Combine this book with (Zoot Horn Rollo) Bill Harkleroad's Lunar Notes, and one seems to get a fair enough picture of Van Vliet's personality & artistry, as well as what life was like living underneath his oppressive regime.

All of the key Magic Band members were interviewed, and their opinions range from bitter/disillusioned (Harkleroad & Ry Cooder), ambiguous (John French, Jimmy Carl Black) to downright hero-worship (Gary Lucas). What this biography makes plain is that all of these attitudes are justified when in reference to the good Captain. Van Vliet has that curious blend of charisma, charm, cruelty, and authoritarianism that seems to part & parcel of many great artists.

The music is discussed in great length, and I find the author's opinions to be mostly sound. The writing style is fast-paced, yet doesn't skimp on analysis. Beefheart's love-hate relationships with Frank Zappa and Ian Anderson are discussed in some detail. It's interesting to note that both Zappa and Anderson were (and in Anderson's case still is) very successful entrepreneurs in the rock music biz, something that completely eluded the financially hapless Beefheart.

If you're ready to shed the ordinary, banal junk that plays on the radio, buy the discs Trout Mask Replica, Safe As Milk and Clear Spot (to start), order this book, and enter a new world.

Rating:
Summary: Van Vliet's Harmonicats
Review: I like Captain Beefheart's music and painting. As with most significant rock and roll artists, just about everything that's ever been written about him is totally worthless. Lester Bangs did some good stuff and Langdon Winner's essay on "Trout Mask Replica" in a book of essays on desert -island records is excellent. There are a lot of tedious exegeses of Van Vliet's poetry and some decent analyses of his music here and there. This book is all right but lacks depth. For example, Van Vliet is married; who is his wife? Family? Barnes displays familiarity with the music, which is great. Lester Bangs was right thirty years ago: Beefheart is more important than the Beatles or even Dave Matthews. Although there are times I can't listen to it, his music makes everything else sound pretty lame. Anyway, the book is worth buying despite its faults, although it needs more pictures.

Rating:
Summary: More of a biography on the music and not the MAN
Review: This book is pretty good as it is a fast and interesting read. As it progresses, it analyzes the albums in order (which is good for those who don't know much about them).

However, the author is not a great writer. I'm not talking about grammar, I'm talking about creativity and the ability to bring the people to life. He doesn't do this. Good biographies make you feel like you KNOW the people (not just the main person) after you read it, but sadly, this book doesn't describe the people at all. Also, he quite often mentions a person as if we should KNOW who they are (he did this a few times, like with Grannie Annie. Maybe i'm not a big enough fan to already know who that person is).

Also, Beefheart himself doesn't even feel like the focus. Its more of a musical biography and when I mean music I mean the music from the other bandmembers. The author analyzes the music from a musicians view.. which I can understand since he's a musician. But still, to just call this "Captain Beefheart: The Biography" is sort of a stretch. We don't get too much into his personal life. The author jumps around and makes mention of one of Beefheart's girlfriends and then BOOM!, a little while later, Beefheart is married to a different woman. A good biography would go into that. Or, if the information is unavailable, the author should have made note of that.

Basically, this is a dry clinical approach yet is somehow interesting. Like I said, its a fast read and its good for people who want to know information about the songs.

Also, a small criticism.. In most biographies the author does not make an appearance.. they do not use the word "I" and talk about themselves. Some biographies DO, and there's nothing wrong with that. They make it a more personal thing (if they knew the person in question). However, this author does not mention himself at all until more than halfway in the book in just one sentence. Strange!! What do we care about him buying a Beefheart record? We KNOW he is a fan and has listened to the music, why else would he be writing this?
Anyway, I do recommend it to be read by Beefheart fans but I wouldn't call this a "biography".. more of a book ABOUT beefheart's music career and an average one at that. The author's gotta learn how to be more creative.

Rating:
Summary: A Fair Biography of a Great Artist
Review: Thorough and informative, but unfortunately Mike Barnes is only a mediocre writer. This is a must have for fans and, for that matter, anyone interested in the milestones of American music. But prepare yourself for a less-than-satisfying literary experience.

Rating:
Summary: A Fair Biography of a Great Artist
Review: Thorough and informative, but unfortunately Mike Barnes is only a mediocre writer. This is a must have for fans and, for that matter, anyone interested in the milestones of American music. But prepare yourself for a less-than-satisfying literary experience.